Knit fabric and the art of constructing the same



8 sheets-sheet 1.

( Model.)

No.' 280,750. Patented July 8.1888.

Imaan-2er: SWA@ M wy mnesses:

Attorneys.

(Model.) 2' Sheets-Sheet 2.

s.. M. LEVY. KNIT FABRIC AND THE ART 0F GONSTRUGTING TEE SAME.

No. 280,750. Patented July 3, 1883,l

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.l l Il UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SALLY M. LEVY, OF MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN.

KNIT FABRIC AND THE ART OF CONSTRUCTING THE SAME.v

SPEIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 280,750, dated July 3, 1888.

Application filed January 10,1882.

To all whom zult may concern.-

Be itknown that I, SALLY M. LEVY, of Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee, and in lthe State of Wisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Knit Fabrics and the Art of Constructing the Same; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full,

gearing removed) upon which my fabric is adapted-to be made, the said figure showing the position of the work upon the hooks and needles. f

My fabric is constructed of two threads, one of which, a, forms thebody of the goods in plain stocking-stitch, while on the reverse side the thread b is caught in between the stitches, leaving loops c between every two or more stitches, without being knitted into the main fabric, or in any sense integral therewith, yet being so held between the stitches that the said loops will remain in place unless the said thread b is pulled out, which would leave the main or knittedfabric intact, as clearly indicated by the detail view, Fig. 2. My said fabric is constructed in a circular seamless web upon a circular-knitting machine by the aid of aspecial attachment of my invention, which forms the subject of Patent No. 263, 923, granted to me September 5, 1882, the application for which was executed on even date herewith, and which therefore need only be briefly described here. rlhe machine used is preferably of the ',Tuttle77 patternthat is, the cylinder which holds the needles revolves, while the cams remain stationary, as is clearly illustrated in the Tuttle patent, No. 149,813, dated April 14, 187 4, and my looping attachment is suspended above the needlecylinder, as shown4 in my patent just named, and also shown in (Model.)

Fig. 4 of the drawings. My looping attachment consists of a revolving cylinder, B, provided with a number of downward-depending hooks, II, (held in place upon the outer periphery of said cylinder by a spring, I, so as to be capable of moving outwardly in grooves h inthe flange B3 at the base of the cylinder B, coinciding with the vertical grooves in which the hooks II rest,) which hooks hold on their inner lower ends the thread b,- and the said cylinder is also provided with a horizontal plate, F, with an inwardly and outwardly inclined cam-edge above and opposite the cams in the shell of the machine, and a vertical guide-plate, M, in front of this cam-plate, for

forcing the thread b down below thelatches of the needles as the hooks begin to travel inward against the cam-edge opposite the knitting-point. The vertical guide-plate M just named is suspended from an arm (in which it is vertically adjustable) attached to the knitting-machine, and the said plate projects down to a point just above the knitting-point, and between the cylinder B and the needle-cylinder A', and behind the needles which form the stitches. Arms M are secured/to this plate, and extend horizontally from behind it to the right andleft, conforming in their shape to the shape of the cam-edge on the horizontal plate'F, thus forming a passage-way for the hooks H behind the vertical guide-plate M. The said plate M, with its arms M, is adjustable horizontally, as shown at m, by slot and set-screw, so as to determine the distance in- Vward which the hooks II shall travel, and thus thread b down below the latches of the needles,

(as they rise in their grooves a by the action of 9 5 the cams in the shell A,) and so keep the loops 'c from being actually knitted into the fabric.

The effect of this is, that just before the needles begin to knit with the thread a the thread b will be forced under their latches, and then as the stitch is completed the thread b will be first caught in between the stitches, and then this portion (if) of said thread b will be pulled over the tops of the needles, (by the usual weights attached to the fabric,) together with the stocking-stitches of the thread a, just as the hooks which guide the thread b begin to emerge from the described canredge, leaving, as stated, a portion of said thread b caught in between every two or more stitches, according to the number of hooks used, (as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, where the thread Z) is caught in between every two stitches,) while the loops c are formed by means ofthe said thread b being pulled inwardly while itis upon the described hooks. As the hooks are forced outward bythe horizontal cam-plate ljust as the stitches, &c., are pulled over the tops of the needles, the said hooks free themselves from the loops of the said threads 11 leaving as the machine continues its revolutions series of these loops e regularly caught in in longitudinal rows between the lon gi tudinal rows of stitches, as shown in Fig. l. Of course, if fewer of these hooks are employed, these rows ofloops will be farther apart, (as be'- tween every three or every four rows of stitch es, for instance5) but this is controlled wholly by the number of hooks employed relative to the number of needles, and the consequent distance apart of these hooks. However, all these details of construction relate wholly to the machine which, as stated, forms the subject of the patent granted to me September 5, 1882.

The fabric, when completed, is a seamless circular web, one side of which is a plain stockingstitch, while the other side has the described longitudinal rows of loops regularly caught in between the rows of stitches, but not knitted in throughout its entire length.

lf two different colors of yarn are used for the two threads a and b, my fabric will be greatly enhanced in beauty and effectiveness, having then the: ppearance of striped goods, as indicated in Fig. 3, and, if desired, one thread may be of a different nature from the otheras, for instance, the plain stocking-stitch may be of cotton and the thread which forms the loops of wool, or either of the threads might be of silk, linen, or any material desired. In this way an infinite variety of appearance may be given to my improved fabric without in any sense departing from the spirit of my in vention.

In addition to the ornamental appearance of my fabric thus constructed, the goods are of substantially double texture, and thus much warmer than even ribbed goods would be, as my loops substantially spread over the entire inner surface, while the outer side presents an unbroken surface, perfectly plain, of stocking-stitches.

My fabric is especially designed for the man ufacture of seamless lined lcggins, stockings,

scarfs, cuffs, wristlets, hoods, and all other similar articles where a circular seamless lined web is desirable or applicable.

I am aware that a patent was granted to Dana Bickford on December 1,1868, No. 84,473, for a looped knit fabric and the process of making the same, which consisted in knitting one or two, ormore, rows of stitches upon a ci rcular-knitting machine, and then, by hand, taking the same thread and ruiming it back in and out between the needles in a zigzag form, holding with the other hand loops ofthe desired length, these loops of the yarn extending from the fingers back to the needles over which it has j ust been laid, and when this had been done the machine was then continuously revolved and another course of regularly-knit ted stitches thereby formed directly over this zigzag layer of thread, whereby the same became interlaced with and bound by the stitches last made. I therefore wholly disclaim such process andthe article made thereby, as the essence of my invention consists in knitting the main body of my fabric of one thread, and then automatically passing loops of another thread between the stitches of the first thread, but without uniting these loops to the stitches of the main fabric, whereas Bickfords loops are knitted in and inseparable from his main fabric, being, in fact, a part thereof and made with the same thread. With my process I can produce striped goods, the stripes being ofdifferent color from the main fabric, and the outside of my goods presents always the appear ance of regular longitudinal rows of stitches Ioo where the looping-thread is interposed between the real stitches, both of which features readily distinguish my goods from those made by Bi ek ford s process or any other known to me.

Having thus described my invention, what I 1o 5 claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. The method of knitting herein described, which consists in knitting a thread in regular stocking-stitches and passing at regular inter- I Io vals loops ofanother thread between t] lestiteh es formed by the first thread, thus forming a double circular seamless fabric, the outer side of which is in plain stocking-stitch, while the inner side consists of longitudinal rows of loops 115 and fiat connecting portions formed of the second thread, held to the main fabric, as described, without being knitted into it, as set forth.

2. A circular seamless web or double'fabric 12o the body of which is made of one thread knitted in plain stocking-stitch, and having a lin ing consisting of longitudinal rows of loops and flat connecting portions formed of a second thread folded in at regular intervals between 12 5 the stitches of the main fabric, substantially as set forth.

8. A circular seamless web or double fabric the body of which is made of one thread knitted in plain stocking-stitch, and having a lin 13o ing consisting of longitudinal rows of loops In testimony that I claim the foregoing I 1o and flat connecting portions formed of an indehave hereunto set my hand this 5th day of Janpendent thread7 of preferably different color uary7'1882. from the main fabric, folded in or passed be- 5 tween the stitches ofthe main fabric, and de- SALLY M. LEVY.

tachable therefrom, the outside of said web presenting the appearance of striped goods Witnesses: with longitudinal rows of plain stitches7 sub- HAROLD G. UNDERwooD, stantially as set forth. S. S. STOUT. 

